paper

Star cluster formation and feedback in different environments of a Milky Way-like galaxy

arXiv:2306.12945 · doi:10.1093/mnras/stad1917

Abstract

It remains unclear how galactic environment affects star formation and stellar cluster properties. This is difficult to address in Milky Way-mass galaxy simulations because of limited resolution and less accurate feedback compared to cloud-scale models. We carry out zoom-in simulations to re-simulate 100-300 pc regions of a Milky Way-like galaxy using smoothed particle hydrodynamics, including finer resolution (0.4 Msun per particle), cluster-sink particles, ray-traced photoionization from O stars, H/CO chemistry, and ISM heating/cooling. We select Msun cloud complexes from a galactic bar, inner spiral arm, outer arm, and inter-arm region (in order of galactocentric radius), retaining the original galactic potentials. The surface densities of star formation rate and neutral gas follow , with the bar lying higher up the relation than the other regions. However, the inter-arm region forms stars 2-3x less efficiently than the arm models at the same . The bar produces the most massive cluster, the inner arm the second, and the inter-arm the third. Almost all clusters in the bar and inner arm are small (radii < 5 pc), while 30-50 per cent of clusters in the outer arm and inter-arm have larger radii more like associations. Bar and inner arm clusters rotate at least twice as fast, on average, than clusters in the outer arm and inter-arm regions. The degree of spatial clustering also decreases from bar to inter-arm. Our results indicate that young massive clusters, potentially progenitors of globular clusters, may preferentially form near the bar/inner arm compared to outer arm/inter-arm regions.

arXiv comment14 pages, accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (99)

Cited by in corpus (1)